MILAN ARE INTO THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!
Today was absolutely nuts in Italy with Milan's unbelievable comeback over Siena and Fiorentina's thrashing of Pescara for the 3rd and final spot to go to the Champions Leauge. Milan vs Siena was a ridiculous match. For the first 15-20 minutes Milan started off great and it looked like it would be an easy win for them with not a lot of drama on the final day. But then things started to turn around when Fiorentina scored their first of many against Pescara and in the 27th minute Siena scored and Milan were in a deep, deep hole. From that point it looked like it wasn't going to be Milan's day as they couldn't get anything going and Fiorentina were having an absolute field day in Pescara. Not surprisingly, Allegri put out a questionable starting line-up with El Shaarawy and Pazzini starting on the bench. A very sub-par performance from Niang and a poor 60 minutes from Robinho, it was clear changes needed to be made. Niang was subbed off at halftime for Pazzini, pushing Balotelli out to the right wing and then in the 59th minute, El Shaarawy came on for Nocerino. The Pharaoh played wonderful for the next half hour. He was creating chances and was very effective defensively. But even with these changes not much changed in Milan's play as they looked uninspired and flat. Then came what I think was brought to us by the Soccer Gods. Kevin Constant was going to come in for Mexes, but then Abate was signaling that he was having trouble with his leg and Constant subbed him off instead, leaving Mexes in. This would end up being the best thing that could ever happen to Milan all season. In the 68th minute, Ambrosini got his second yellow and was sent off in what could have been his last match in the famous rossonero shirt. Luckily, if that was possible for Milan in this game, two minutes later, Christian Terlizzi gets a red as well and he is sent off so it is 10v10 with 20 minutes left to play. The game continued as it had all match long and Milan still looked flat and terrible in every way. Unbelievably, in the 84th minute the (terrible) referee called a penalty for Milan and who else other than Mr. Perfect, Balotelli steps up and just like that Milan has life. Just 3 minutes later, the Soccer Gods plan worked. Milan gets a free kick about 15 yards outside the box on the left side. All the players are lined up on the right side waiting for the cross, but Montolivo gives a short pass over to the lone man on the left wing, El Shaarawy, and he passes it back to Montolivo. Riccardo then takes a touch and crosses it over the far post to a wide open Philippe Mexes in the 6 and he takes a shot, but it is saved by Pegolo, but Mexes manages to just get his foot on the rebound and scored the biggest goal of the year to send Milan into the Champions League. La Viola won their match against Pescara 5-1, but it was not enough and they will qualify for the Europa League next season. Before I say anything else, I want to say that Fiorentina were fully deserving of making the Champions League and Milan played terrible in the biggest match of the season. As a Milan fan, I am very optimistic for next season. If Galliani makes the right decisions, which he usually does, Allegri should be gone and some new pieces will be added to the squad as well as some players leaving that should. In my opinion, Milan's most important fixes are in the defense where a center back would be extremely helpful. Getting rid of Zapata and maybe adding Ogbonna to play alongside Mexes would make for some solid defense. In the midfield, I'm hoping that Marco Verratti of P$G comes. A midfield with Montolivo, Verratti and Boateng is very intriguing and very creative. Up top, there's not too much to worry about with Balotelli and El Shaarawy. I just hope Niang becomes the player most people think he can be, otherwise Milan might need to look at a new winger. The goalkeeper situation is a little iffy. Abbiati looks like he's leaving and surely Amelia is leaving as well, but Mattia Perin may not be leaving Genoa to come to Milan next season. That could be the most difficult position to fix for Milan, especially in a shorter off season since Milan must go through qualifying for the Champions League in August. All in all, I think you can expect a lot of Milan next season and make a real run not only for the Scudetto, but for European glory as well.
FORZA MILAN!
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